Democrats are urging President Bush not to pardon Lewis "Scooter" Libby following his conviction on perjury charges in the Valerie Plame case. His lawyers pledge to seek a retrial, or appeal. Significantly, Libby was never charged with leaking Plame's identity—whoever did that remains at large. Vice President Dick Cheney, in a written statement, said he was "disappointed with the verdict." Cheney said "Scooter has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service." (CNN [2], March 6) We suspect Dick is laughing down his sleeve. Michael Roston for Raw Story [3]:
Juror says Libby 'seemed like fall guy'
Noting that he was the only juror that planned to speak at this time, Dennis Collins offered insight in a post-trial press conference after he and ten fellow citizens found former Vice President I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby guilty of four charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement.The jury believed that "it seemed like Libby was the fall guy," according to Collins.
Collins is a former Washington Post reporter and noted at the start of his press conference that he felt an obligation to speak to the press because of his former profession, a sentiment his fellow jurors appeared not to share.
Collins discussed the thinking the jurors used to come to their decision, including "thirty-four Post-It notes" arrayed around the juror's chambers containing all the information they distilled from the testimony.
At some point, the jury began to feel like they were deliberating on charges for the wrong man.
"What are we doing with this guy? Where's Rove? Where are these other bad guys," he said. "It seemed like Libby was the fall guy."
He added, "Some jurors commented 'this sucks' for Libby."
According to Collins, the jury believed that the former White House aide was "tasked by Vice President Dick Cheney to talk to reporters" about Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.
Collins insisted that no political agenda emerged among the jurors.
"I never heard anyone on this trial issue a political belief," he claimed.
How telling. Just as the Washington "pragmatists [4]"—linked to the old Cowboy oil-money and Eastern Establishment blue-blood wings of the ruling elites—rally for the counter-attack against the "neo-cons," with their Jewish last names and supposed "dual loyalties," a high-placed neocon figure takes the fall for Cowboy Cheney. Astute readers will recognize this as a case study in the Jewish scapegoating [5] which is an increasingly prevalent characteristic of the global scene. This is how its done in the patrician ranks of the power elite. Those at the bottom of the social pyramid use cruder methods [6].
We can only hope that the suits against Cheney [7] and Richard Armitage [8] move ahead.
See our last posts on the Plame affair [9], Dick Cheney [10] and the politics of the GWOT [11].
See also our special analysis [12] of the official ideology of Jewish scapegoating, "The Israel Lobby and Global Hegemony," by William X.
